(21 July 2016) Andrea Bocelli plays the role of Radames, an Egyptian military commander. He does it for “Aida”, an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, released worldwide for Decca tomorrow. The passion and commitment that the tenor has put in this work shines through in all of his recording, made at the Florence Opera with an exceptional cast that sees the Maestro Zubin Mehta to direct the Chorus and Orchestra of Florentine Maggio Musicale. The role of Aida is entrusted to the young American soprano Kristin Lewis, a repeatedly acclaimed interpreter of Verdi heroines. The intense interweaving of voices between Bocelli and Lewis emphasizes the drama, the pathos and the psychological complexity of this composition by Verdi. They are joined by an excellent cast of Italian performers of Verdi, including Veronica Simeoni (Amneris), Giorgio Josephites (king of Egypt), Ambrogio Maestri (Amonasro, Aida’s father and king of Ethiopia, “the Italian response to Bryn Terfel” according to the prestigious magazine Gramophone), and Carlo Colombara (the high priest Ramfis). The popularity of Aida is certainly due to lavish pages as the “Triumphal March” or romances such as the famous “Celeste Aida”: the opera has been performed over 1,100 times at New York’s Metropolitan Opera since its first performance there in 1886, and it obtains countless reruns every year worldwide. (Red)
